March has arrived!

As spring prepares to make her full debut, here in SW Colorado we are starting to see little signs that she is almost ready.

Spring is an exciting time on the farm. New life in the form of baby animals of all sorts start to make an appearance. The Red Wing blackbirds are back, busily building their nests in last year’s cattails. Their happy song is always the first sign that spring is on its way.

Exciting and Busy

Along with being exciting, spring is also an extremely busy time here on our little farm. There are animals that still need to be fed hay, calves to tag, ditches to prepare for irrigation water, and the never ending fences to repair.

Another spring time task is burning the dead grass and weeds in the ditches and along the fence lines. Recently, my family and I were repairing fence and we came to a place where the ditch runs under the fence. Because of the high concentration of water there the grass and cattails grow tall and strong in the summer. The plants die in the fall and as autumn turns to winter they bend under the weight of snow and ice. This creates a huge burden on the fence, pushing the wire down and making an easy place for mischievous cows to escape the pasture.

We decided we would have to burn the dead plants off the fence before we could even attempt to fix the mess it was in.  As I watched the flames hungrily gobble up their prey, I watched in wonder as the wires from our fence started to reappear and stand up higher as their heavy burden was removed.

The Gospel Picture

Through this picture, I was reminded of the beauty of the gospel. Much like that fence, we are weighted down with heavy burdens of sin and worry, guilt and dread.

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”   Hebrews 12:1b-2

Thankfully, we have a saviour who has already made a way for us to be free from that weight!  Many times we choose to pick that weight back up and try to carry it ourselves.

Like the barbed wire on the fence, we bend and will eventually break under that extreme weight.

The Good News?

We do not have to stay that way! I John 1:9 tells us he is faithful to forgive us when we admit that we are wrong. He will take that weight of worry and guilt. He will lead you through the fire and thoroughly purge the dross from your life. He is waiting for you! His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Come and rest in him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”   Matthew 11:28-30

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you.”   Matthew 7:7

After the flames had finished their work, small specks of vibrant green poked through the blackened ground and ashy rubble.  Once the flames had removed the dead, new life that had already been growing was revealed!  What an exciting picture of how God’s word starts as a tiny seed planted in our hearts and grows from the ashes.  

Our Heavenly Father loves us as his children and, therefore, allows us to go through fiery trials to take the bad away and to open our eyes to the new life he has made possible for us.

“Help us, oh God of our salvation, for the glory of your name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for your name’s sake.”         Psalm 79:9

Life Lessons

These types of beautiful life lessons are wonderful opportunities to share the gospel with children in a very tangible way.  They can see with their own eyes the mess that we started with.  They can hear the crackling of the fire as it grows.  They can feel with their bodies the intensity of the flames.  They can smell and taste the smoke and ashes as the mess is burned up, and then they see how the fire, though challenging for the fence and plants, removed the weight and revealed the life underneath.

I hope my experience encourages you to take the time to look for the many opportunities God puts in your life to share his love and truths with your children.

Stay strong in the faith, and be blessed, mommas!

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  Psalm 27:1

Meet Mollie

Mollie is a lover of Jesus above all. She loves her husband and family and enjoys gardening, teaching, piano, riding, and farming. She lives in SW Colorado with her husband and five kids.